Happiness in Pain
by The-Fiction-Fangirl
Summary: When Merlin, Arthur, and Leon go out to gather some supplies for Gaius, they all get kidnapped by bandits. In the process Merlin was injured. With him very close to death with no medical help around, will his magic be able to save him? Is there a bigger force at work? Will Merlin live to see Arthur make a difference in the world, or will fate rip him away before his job is done?
1. Happiness Before Pain

**Well alrighty! Mah furst ****_Merlin _****fic although i'm not quite sure how good it is. I hope you enjoy it...keyword: ****_hope_**** . But plz give it a chance. If after that you don't like it, well, no one's gonna force you to read it. :D**

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"Rise and shine, Sire!" Merlin shouted as he whipped the blanket off of King Arthur.

"Merlin!"

"Sire?"

"What are you doing?"

"Oh! We're going out today. Remember?"

"No!"

"You told Gaius you would help him."

"With what?"

"He needs to restock on some herbs."

"Alright fine."

"Open up!"

"Why?"

"Open."

King Arthur opened his mouth only to have muffin shoved into his mouth. "Merlin!" Arthur said as crumbs tumbled out of his mouth.

"We leave in ten!" Merlin shouted as he threw Arthur's blue shirt and belt at him.

The king allowed the clothes to wash over his features. As they slid off his face, a blank stare was revealed.

Merlin closed his eyes and gave his friend a smile that what wiped off as Arthur threw a pillow at his face. "How does it feel?" The king asked.

"Wonderful," Merlin answered sarcastically. He shook his head, and walked over to the King's bed. "Okay. Time to get up," he said as he tugged at Arthur's arm. After a few minutes, he was panting in exertion. "Wow, Sire. You're heavy." Arthur gave him a surprised, and cold expression. "No! I meant, well, uh, I meant—" Merlin stammered, but stopped talking when he got hit in the face with another pillow. "Okay. I suppose I deserved that one."

"Merlin, you really need to learn when to shut up," Arthur said as he swung his legs over the bed.

"Yes, Sire. The horses are ready. So get dressed!"

"Fine," the King said as he walked behind the changing screen. "So. What kind of herbs does Gaius need?"

"Not quite sure. I have a list though. I'm pretty sure they're all relatively easy to find."

"It's just us?"

"No—Sir Leon will be accompanying us."

"Very well."

Merlin was over at the windows. "Sir Leon is already down by the horses so, maybe, you could, uh, speed it up a bit?" Arthur poked his head out from behind the screen. "Sire." The king's head briefly disappeared and then it was just his hand that Merlin could see before a belt slapped him in the face. When it fell, Merlin tilted his head and sighed. Then he mumbled—more to himself than to Arthur— "That king. I swear to God—"

"What's that I hear? I have plenty more to throw."

"Nothing, Sire. Nothing."

"Good." Arthur walked out from the changing screen. When he turned around to grab his armor from behind him, Merlin did a quick scan of the room. Then his eyes flashed gold and the king's trousers fell swiftly to the floor. Merlin chuckled.

Arthur, completely aware of the change in temperature, turned to face his manservant with a quizzical look and then peeked down to his legs. His eyebrows arched and his eyes widened. "Merlin!" he yelped as he frantically pulled up his pants.

"Sire! I'm all the way over here! I could not have done that!" Merlin said with a grin. Then he muttered softer, but still loud enough that Arthur could hear it if the king was really listening, "You just can't put your pants on correctly."

King Arthur shot Merlin a steely glare to which the servant responded with a shrug of the shoulders and a toothy grin. "Come on," Arthur grumbled as he walked out the door. Merlin happily followed with a smile upon his face.

At this time, neither one knew of the angst and pain that awaited them, but it was sure to come soon.

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**Soooooo...uh...what'd ya think? Plz tell me in a review or something cuz i'd love to hear from you! I really would. The fate of this story depends on the reviews. If no one seems to like it, i will discontinue it. If people seem to like it, I will most likely continue! :)**


	2. Seized

**This is a more action-y chapter to see if you guys are ****_really _****interested. Sorry for the short chapters. Hopefully, if i continue, they will grow longer. **

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In a matter of minutes, Merlin and Arthur were down by the horses in the courtyard with Sir Leon. They exchanged quick greetings and Merlin recounted the story concerning the king's pants as they all hopped on their horses.

"Really?" Sir Leon asked. Merlin nodded and let out a small chuckle. "Oh, Sire—"

"Let's just get these herbs for Gaius," King Arthur interrupted, riding off ahead.

"Of course, Sire," Merlin responded with a quick wink to Leon who smiled and rode off as well. The young warlock shook his head and followed.

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They had nearly finished their list when they came across a small cave. Merlin cocked his head and then craned his neck towards the opening. "Wait," he said. "Did you hear that?"

Sir Leon and King Arthur both knit their eyebrows together in concentration as they listened intently for any sign of sound. And then they heard it: the groans. The whimpers. The cries for help. Although they were all very weak.

"Stay here. I'll investigate," Arthur said.

"But, Sire—" Merlin tried.

"I'll be fine. You're just a little ways away." Merlin nodded reluctantly.

Arthur hopped off his horse and grabbed his sword from his sheath. Then he slid down the small hill to reach the cave. As he stood at the mouth, he leaned in and called out: "Hello? Is anyone in here? We're here to help!" But Arthur could not hear anything. He took a small step into the landform, and called out again to no response. He turned back around to face Merlin and Sir Leon and shrugged his shoulders.

Merlin closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, but when he opened them up he saw the light shine off of the dagger that was slowly making it's way to Arthur's chest. "Arthur, look out!" Merlin yelled.

The king whipped around just in time to dodge what would surely have been a fatal blow. The attacker threw down his knife and pulled out a long sword so that he and Arthur could the two men battled, Merlin and Sir Leon slid off their horses and rushed to their king's aid. By now, more men had run out of the cave and were meeting them halfway. Merlin had grabbed another sword from Arthur's saddle and was ready for the attack. What he wasn't ready for was the man sneaking up behind him.

Merlin turned around and was met with a dagger to his abdomen.

Arthur had beat his opponent and whirled around just in time to see Merlin fall to the ground on his back, holding his hand on his stomach. He switched his glance to Sir Leon to see that he was being overpowered and watched as one of the men used a hilt of a sword to knock out his trusty knight.

It all happened so fast that Arthur couldn't react fast enough to stop the blow to his head and he quickly sunk into unconsciousness.

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**Meh...idk 'bout that chapter...what'd you think? Please review! :)**


	3. Waking Up

**Hey guys! This was pretty quick update and it's also pretty short. Sorry...erm...umm...just read i guess...I hope you enjoy? Hope I din't disappoint you too much with this chapter...uh...bai... :)**

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The last thing Merlin remembered was running down the hill to help Arthur who was preoccupied with a bandit who had attacked him. He didn't realize there had been a man sneaking up on him until he turned around and felt an excruciating pain in his stomach. He fell to the ground on his back with a hand on his abdomen in hopes to decrease the blood flowing out of the wound and through Merlin's fingers. It was an odd feeling—feeling yourself bleeding out.

Merlin could practically hear his heartbeat in his ears. He could practically hear it getting slower in speed and black dots clouded his vision. His breathing became shallow and when he looked over to where Arthur had been he could only stare in horror as the king fell to the ground.

"Arthur," he whispered weakly. He coughed and then slipped into the darkness that was overwhelming him.

When Merlin woke up, he was in a large, dank cell. He was flooded with relief when he looked around and saw that both Arthur and Sir Leon were in there with him. And, for the most part, they were unharmed. Leon had a visible bruise on his forehead with some dried blood.

Merlin attempted to crawl over to where his friend lay unconscious but as soon as he tried, he groaned in pain. He looked down to see that his wound was covered up but was not healed.

Next, Merlin tried to call out Arthur's name but he only accomplished in having a violent coughing fit that wracked throughout his whole his body. He wiped away a small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Finally, with all the strength he could muster up, he called out, "Arthur. Arthur!" When he finished, he coughed again and spit up some more blood onto the cold, cement floor. When he looked back at the king, Arthur was slowly sitting up. He squeezed his eyes shut as he reached to back of his head. Then he turned and saw Merlin coughing up a crimson substance and was finally _awake_.

The sight of his manservant in pain ticked Arthur off. Merlin was so…innocent. Sure he could be very annoying, but this kid did not deserve to suffer. "Merlin? Merlin, are you alright?" Arthur asked.

"Sire! Arthur, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Merlin. I'm more worried about _you_."

"I'm okay. Wake Leon up. We all need to talk."

Arthur nodded before crawling over to the knight's side. He placed his hands on Leon's unconscious figure and shook gently while saying his name. Finally, Sir Leon woke up only to start fussing about his king. Making sure he was alright, he wasn't hurt, was he sure, and did he need anything to which Arthur denied all the questions.

By the time Arthur and Leon had made it over to Merlin, one of the men that had attacked them burst loudly through the door. "Hey, you!" he yelled out, pointing at Merlin. "You come with me."

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**Good enough cliff-y? ;) Lol jk. It was pretty bad... anyway. I was thinking about making it so that the bandits work for Morgana...what would you say to that? And I think I am going to make this a reveal fic...but not ****_too _****soon and in a********really ****_dramatic_****way. that sound good? i know I asked you a few questions in this A/N so please tell me what how you feel about my offers in, like, a review or a PM. Oh, and review the actual ****_story _****2! haha, lol. Yeah...kk, buh baize. ;D (remember-review, favorite, follow, PM. k. ****_now _****goodbye)**


	4. Come along, now!

**Yes, i do realize that this is a very short chapter, but i thought it would be nice to update and I had to ask you a question. I am also sorry for the quality...its probe suuuuper bad...it's late and I'm tired. Cut me some slack.**

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"What? No! This man is hurt!" Arthur argued. "You will _not _take him."

"Shut up, prisoner. Or so help me, I'll—" the man tried to say.

"Arthur," Merlin interrupted. "It's fine. I'm fine. It'll be alright," he said as he struggled to get to his feet. After a few seconds, he was standing but using the stone wall for support. He felt lightheaded and the world was spinning a little. "I'll go."

"You most certainly will not!" the king protested.

"You can't stop me."

"Merlin, you—what do you want with him?" Arthur asked, turning his attention to the bandit.

"I asked for the other one. You don't need to know what I need from 'im. Or what I do to 'im," the man replied.

"You will not be taking him. I won't let you."

"I gotta grab dis one. My orders have been placed. And I ain't gonna have no pretty boy gettin' in the way."

Arthur shook his head and jumped to his fight. "You. Will _not. _Take him."

The old man muttered something inaudible to the prisoners, but they all saw his eyes flash gold. Suddenly, the king was thrown into the far wall. He hit with a loud _thud! _And slumped to the ground.

King Leon looked in surprise at his fallen king and then back to the bandit. "You're a sorcerer?" he said incredulously.

The man only grunted. "You," he repeated, pointing to Merlin once more. "Come on. Or the other one gits it, too. "

"Okay. Leon, wake Arthur up, will you?" the young servant said as he began taking shaky steps towards the door.

"Oy! Shut up and git goin'!"

The knight of Camelot nodded as the bandit took Merlin by the scarf and ushered him harshly thorugh the door.

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**Short. I told you. **

**So I tried something new with the bandit, as it was clearly visible. His grammar and speech were very...slang like. What'd you think of that? Idek, if you didn't like it I'd be more than happy to change it. I just had a sudden rush of speech from ****_Tom Sawyer _****and British people (oy!) ... so yeah. Yes or no on this?**

**Also, I want there to be a greater force than just the bandits. Originally, I had Morgana in mind. I know I asked this before, but I don't really know what to do... so please share your opinion.**

**I asked a few questions in here...so please, would you either review or PM me on this story! Fanks! :***

***please stay tuned for more (and hopefully longer) updates on this and other storied (if you have read any of my other shtuff) Oh, and sorry about my "I"s. Sometimes i write them uppercase and sometimes they end up lowercase...i'm weird like that...sorry***


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